1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an article transporting apparatus comprising a traveling carriage adapted to run along a travel rail, a pair of front and rear lift guide masts mounted upright on the traveling carriage to be spaced apart from each other and connected to each other at upper ends thereof by an upper frame, a lift vertically movable along the pair of front and rear lift guide masts, and an article transfer device provided in the lift.
2. Description of Related Art
The article transporting apparatus noted above is used in an automated warehouse, for example, for running the traveling carriage and moving the lift vertically thereby moving the article transfer device to any one of a plurality of storage sections provided in an article storage shelf in order to store an article in the storage section or to retrieve the article from the storage section. The article transporting apparatus is adapted to perform storing operations for placing the article to be carried in on any of the storage sections, or retrieving operations for retrieving the article stored in any one of the storage sections.
The conventional article transporting apparatus comprises the lift guide masts mounted upright on longitudinal opposite ends of the traveling carriage, each of the pair of front and rear lift guide masts including posts (posts having a rectangular horizontal section, for example), and a plurality of cord-like members connected to opposite ends of the lift for suspending and supporting the lift, the lift being vertically movable along the pair of front and rear lift guide masts (see Patent Document 1, for example).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-59190